Hello,
I am using self-hosted on my server. I’m also very new to this. When I click on Settings/Usage and Plan and click Unlock and then Send Me a Free License Key I get the following error:
License request failed
Failed to register community edition: Request failed with status code 403
I have tried opening in Tunnel Mode with the same result. Any help would be appreciated.
Hello @1sixty8
The 403 error on license registration is usually a network issue… your self-hosted n8n instance can’t reach n8n’s license server. Since you’re running on Docker, check that your container has outbound internet access and that no firewall rule is blocking the request. Also make sure your N8N_HOST and WEBHOOK_URL environment variables are set correctly, as the license server needs to be able to identify your instance. Tunnel mode should bypass this but if it’s still failing, double check the tunnel is actually active before clicking the button.
403 here usually means the n8n license server is rejecting the request because it can’t properly identify your instance. I’d check the following first: N8N_HOST, N8N_EDITOR_BASE_URL, WEBHOOK_URL; Make sure they all point to a valid and consistent URL (not localhost if possible)
Also, Even with tunnel mode, this can still fail if the tunnel isn’t fully active or the instance URL doesn’t match what n8n sends to the license server. If you want a quick test, try: restarting n8n with correct env vars, opening the editor from that same URL, then requesting the license again.
If it still returns 403 after that, it might be worth checking logs for the license request or testing from a different network just to rule out outbound blocking.
Happy to take a look at your env config if you want to paste it